Esther Pleads for Her People

1So the king and Aman went in to drink with the queen. 2And the king said to Esther at the banquet on the second day, What is it, queen Esther? and what is thy request, and what is thy petition? and it shall be done for thee, to the half of my kingdom. 3And she answered and said, If I have found favour in the sight of the king, let my life be granted to my petition, and my people to my request. 4For both I and my people are sold for destruction, and pillage, and slavery; both we and our children for bondmen and bondwomen: and I consented not to it, for the slanderer is not worthy of the king's palace. 5And the king said, Who is this that has dared to do this thing? 6And Esther said, the adversary is Aman, this wicked man. Then Aman was troubled before the king and the queen.

The Hanging of Haman

7And the king rose up from the banquet to go into the garden: and Aman began to intreat the queen; for he saw that he was in an evil case. 8And the king returned from the garden; and Aman had fallen upon the bed, intreating the queen. And the king said, Wilt thou even force my wife in my house? And when Aman heard it, he changed countenance. 9And Bugathan, one of the chamberlains, said to the king, Behold, Aman has also prepared a gallows for Mardochaeus, who spoke concerning the king, and a gallows of fifty cubits high has been set up in the premises of Aman. And the king said, Let him be hanged thereon. 10So Aman was hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mardochaeus: and then the king's wrath was appeased.